There are many uses associated with precisely localizing a subject's eye(s). Eye movement and eye gaze can be tracked for purposes of human-computer interaction, for example, moving a camera in accordance with a subject's gaze direction, or shifting headlights in a vehicle in accordance with a subject's gaze direction. Eye movement may be tracked to aid in research of cognitive development skills. Localizing a subject's eye(s) can be used in systems for monitoring the eyes of an automobile driver for purposes of determining driver drowsiness and driver attention. Finally, eye finding methods can be deployed in iris identification systems for secure banking and computer access applications.
Thus, there is a need in the art for a method to quickly and robustly localize the iris and pupil boundaries of a subject's eye, e.g., in close-up images. Such a method can be employed in iris identification, or for applications that must determine the subject's gaze direction, such as human-computer interaction or driver attentiveness determination.